Fan Blade Tip Assembly for Gas Turbine Seal Integrity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engine fan blades experience wear and tear issues due to contact with rub strips, leading to inefficiencies in maintaining a tight seal and potentially causing operational problems.
Innovation Solution
A tip assembly for the fan blade is designed with a leading edge wall, trailing edge wall, suction side wall, pressure side wall, and a tip wall that extends between these components, defining holes and pockets to engage the rub strip effectively, and is bonded to the blade body to enhance sealing and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the fan blade tip contacts the rub strip during operation, then a tight seal is maintained between the nacelle and the blade, but wear and tear occurs on the fan blade
Solution Approach 1:
The tip assembly is divided into multiple functional walls (leading edge wall, trailing edge wall, suction side wall, pressure side wall, and tip wall) that work together to engage the rub strip. This segmentation allows each wall to contribute specifically to maintaining the seal while distributing the wear across multiple surfaces rather than a single contact point.
Solution Approach 2:
The tip assembly acts as an intermediary structure between the fan blade body and the rub strip. It provides a dedicated interface that maintains the sealing function while protecting the main blade body from direct contact and wear with the rub strip.
2Reliability
If the tip assembly is bonded to the blade body, then sealing and durability are enhanced, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tip assembly is bonded to the blade body to create a unified structure that combines the sealing function of the tip assembly with the structural integrity of the blade body. This merging enhances both sealing and durability while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure through a single bonding interface.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
AI summary
A fan blade (62) includes a tip assembly (64) that is disposed on a blade body (70). The tip assembly has a leading edge wall (100) disposed proximate a leading edge (84) of the blade body, a trailing edge wall (102) disposed proximate a trailing edge (86) of the blade body, a suction side wall (106) that extends between the leading edge wall and the trailing edge wall, a pressure side wall (104) disposed opposite the suction side wall and extends between the leading edge wall and the trailing edge wall, and a tip wall (108) that extends between the leading edge wall, the trailing edge wall, the suction side wall, and the pressure side wall and is disposed parallel to the tip (82).